Switch for directional and clearance lamps



May 27, 1952 J. R. HOLLINS SWITCH FOR DIRECTIONAL. AND CLEARANCE LAMPS Original Filed Sept. 17, 1949 INVENTOR. JESSE .Q4 HOLL/N5 Patented May 27, 1952 stares earl-enr orti-eee;

sWii'rcHl FoltDmEo'rIoNAL AND CLEARANCE YLAMizs Jaesseeii/Hnllins, Brooklyn, N. originali' elimination, september 1,7, 1,949, serial. N0..116-,321-. 11i-vided and Lthis @plie-ation. July 12, 1950;;sera1.nm 173,439 Y 2.- olaimax (o1. rrr-:ssn

This invention relates to vehicle-signalling systemsY and'more particularly toa novel switch and a-:rnovel circuit arrangement, wherebyclearance lamps may 'be utilized as flashing directional signals, and whereby` all of the signal lamps@ on a-.veliiclemay be simultaneously ashedias*= an emergency stop" indication, this application being a divisionlof my copendingapplication-Se rial No. 116,321 led' September IFI., 1949i, which matured as Patent No. 2,562g274 dated? July:v 31:, 1952l f Mostmodern motor vehicles are equippedwith directional' signal lamps on the frontA and rearof thevehicles, and these lampsY are-selectivelyl energized to apprise' an` approachingy or followingvehicle when a turn. is contemplated-L Additionally, larger vehiclessuch astruck'sf, are required by lawvr tocarry clearance` ormarker lights whereby other vehicles: may be apprised off; the width of the so-marked vehi'cie- As'. a general rule, the. clearance lamps are: steadily illuminated; whereas the.. turn signal. `or direc-.- tionalf lampsare easilyv flashed. so; as: to; more readily attract the attention of other' drivers;

The: present. invention-11s directed. toy a novel switch, and' to ai novel circuit combined. there.- with, whereby, when the signal lamps on one side of the vehicle are ashed to. indicate a turn, the clearance lamps on that side ofi the; vehiclefare likewise flashed. The clearancelamps'. on; the other.l side of the. vehicle; remain steadily' illuminated, andthe directional lamps on such other side of the vehicle remain. extinguished. The switch hasy a. further position in; which all' 'of the clearance lamps and all of the. directional lampsv are simultaneously flashed to.l indicate'. an emergency stop?" of the vehicle. A` vfeature of the invention is a provision by: means: off-which the' switch. may be reversed inA position 1809 so that'it will have a day" position andi a night position. In the day position,`the clearance lampsv are illuminated only when a. turn is. signailed` whereas, in theV nighi'fVy position, the clearance lamps. are steadily illuminated except when a turn'. is indicated..

As a` further feature. of'the inventiony the usual directional' signal lamps may be omitted', and two-filament lamps may be used for-"the clearancey lamps. With such arrangementy the clearancel lamps are steadily-il'luminatedthrough oney set of laments for normal night-time driving. When a turn is to be'. made, the other setof filaments of the' lamps; onone'side off -theve.- hi'cleis` energized, in suchmanner that the clearancel lamps on 'such VVone si'd'e1 have both-'of their l 2f laments flashed tov give a bright signal indica tion.V During day-time driving, the clearancefilaments are not energized, but both sets off'la mentsvv are'ii'aslied to! indicate a turn.

With the foregoingy inV4 mind, it i'sanobjectof thev present invention toprovide a noveli directionavl signal and clearancel lamp control switch'.

Another Objectis to provide a novel signalling circuit lfor motor vehicles. by means* off which clearance lamps mayfbe'selectively. flashed simultaneously with directional signal lamps to'.` indicatea vehicle: turn.

Yet another object is to provide a: combined' switch and circuit' by means of-v which'. all: olf1v the signal Alamps-on a vehiclel may be simultaneously iiashed to indicate an" emergencysstop.*

A 'further Objectis toY provide a novel'. clear ance lamp arrangement wherebyI the Vclearance lampsl may be utilized', inv place ofthey usuali di;- rectional signal lamps, toindicate a turn` of avehi'cle.

These,v andy other objects, advantages; vand novel features: of the invention will: be apparent from4 the following description andi the: accomu panying drawing. In the drawing:`

Fig. 1 is a-schematicwiring diagram of a. switch and vehicle signalling circuit embodyingthe-k in.- vention and' Fig.` 2iis a schematicrwiring. diagram of am al.-` ternatlve embodiment. of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1 the novel; control; switch l0 of the invention is: illustrated as arrangedLt'o selectively control' the. energization, of ciearance lampsZll, 2B and directionali signal lamps 3.0.", the lamps'- and.: 30? beings arranged, on= one side ofthevehicle and: the lamps 20" and 30;? on; the othersidezor the vehicle. While only'threecleae, ance: lamps are'. shown for each. side. of the/vei-v hic-l'e, the number may vary 1n\ accordance with the length, width and? height of the vehicle. The-directional signal lamps 30, .'iilir are arranged; inthe usual manner, near the right and; left sidesiof the vehicle-at the forward* andirear ends thereof.

Switch lllincludes a4 mountingl plate Hi ofsuitable insulating material: havingA a central terminal ItZ acting asa pivot for the. movable switch memberv generally indicated; at. l5. Terminal l2 is connectedfto oney terminal 4 of the usual ve.- hi'cle battery, or other souree of,P electric power' 5j, the. other terminali; which is. grounded as; at. l, Movable switch." member |15y includes; aligned radial extending ycontact arms 153: and 1541i and radiallyl extent/ling. angularlvfI related. arms` IB and"IT whichy extendY on. either side of arm. lff'.

Member I5 has a day operating handle or extension I8 and a night operating extension or handle I9. In the nigh operation position of member I5, arms I6 and I1 are engaged with contacts 2| and 2|', each respectively connected to one terminal of the parallel arranged clearance lamps and 20'. The other terminals of the clearance lamps are grounded as at 22 and 22. It should be noted that arms I6 and I1 are substantially shorter than arms I3 and I4.

Switch Ill includes contacts 3| and 3|. Contact 3| is connected through a asher unit 32 and the operating coil of a relay 33 to one ter- -minal of the directional signal lamps 38 on the right-hand side of the vehicle. These lamps are grounded as at 34. Contact 3| is similarly connected through a flasher unit 32 and a relay coil 33 to the grounded directional lamps 38 on the left-hand side of the vehicle. For a purpose to be described, switch I0 has a pair of diametrically opposite contacts 36, 36 respectively connected to contacts 3I and 3|', and has a. dead contact 31.

Relay 33 has an armature 38 which, when the relay is energized, connects flasher 32 to a contact point 39. Point 39 is connected through the coil of a relay 23 to the live terminals of clearance lamps 20. When relay 23 is energized, its armature 24 engages a contact point 2B connected to a pilot or indicator lamp 25 grounded at 21. A similar arrangement is provided for the clearance lamps on the left-hand side of the vehicle.

With switch I0 in the illustrated position, clearance lamps 20 and 28 are steadily illuminated from battery terminal 4 through terminal I2, arms I6 and I1, and contacts 2| and 2|. Should it be desired to indicate a right-hand turn of the vehicle, extension I9 is moved one position counter-clockwise. arm I4 engages contact 3| and arm I3 engages contact 2|. Contact 2| is disengaged. Under such conditions, left-hand clearance lamps 23 will continue to be steadily illuminated. Righthand directional lamps will be ashed through operation of flasher unit 32. Each time unit 32 is energized, armature 38 engages contact point 39 to flash right-hand clearance lamps 20 and operate relay 23. The latter effects an engagement of armature 24 with contact point 25 to flash pilot lamp 25 indicating that the circuit is in operating condition.

Should one or more of lamps 20 fail, there will be a drop in the current through coil 23 and this relay is so designed that the resulting drop across coil 23 will be insufficient to engage armature 24 with contact point 23, and the resulting failure of lamp 25 to light up will advise of a circuit defect. Likewise, relay 33 is so designed that if either lamp 38 is inoperative, the drop across coil 33 is insufficient to engage armature 38 with contact point 39. Consequently, the clearance lamps 2D will fail to flash and pilot lamp 25 will not be illuminated. This again will indicate a failure or defect of the circuits on the right-hand side of the vehicle. It should be noted that arms I6 and I1 are sufficiently short that they will engage only contacts 2| and 2| which are radially nearer to terminal I2 than are the other switch contacts. A left-hand turn of the vehicle is indicated in the same manner as described by moving handle I9 clockwise one position, so that arm I4 engages contact 3|' and arm I3 engages contact 2|. As a result, lamps 20 will continue to In this position, .l

4 be steadily illuminated whereas lamps 20' and 30' on the left-hand side of the vehicle will be flashed to indicate a turn. Should left-hand pilot lamp 25' fail to illuminate, it will indicate a defect in the circuits on the left-hand side of the vehicle.

Switch ID has a position in which all of the lamps on the vehicle are flashed to indicate an emergency stop." To achieve this effect, arm I9 is moved two positions in either direction so that arms I3 and I4 connect contacts 3S and 36 to battery 5 through terminal I2. In this position, both sets of lan'ps on each side of the vehicle are flashed through the flashing signal circuits previously described. This lighting arrangement provides effective wiring to prevent other vehicles from colliding with a standing vehicle, and the flashing lights amount to flashing ares insofar as warning effects are concerned.

Fig. 2 illustrates switch I0 in the day position. In the circuit arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2, directional lamps 30 and 30 are omitted and two lament clearance lamps 40, 48 are provided. Each lamp 4I) has a pair of filaments 4| and 42, and each lamp 48' has a pair of filaments 4I and 42. All of the filaments are commonly grounded at 52. Filaments 4| are commonly connected to contact 2| of switch IIJ. Filaments 42 are commonly connected to contact 3| of switch I 0 in the same manner as lamps 30 of the arrangement of Fig. l. The relating arrangement for flashing filaments 4| and pilot lamp 25 is the same as previously described. The circuits of the left-hand side of the vehicle correspond to those described for the right-hand side of the vehicle.

In the day position of switch II), as shown in Fig. 2, contacts 2| and 2| are disengaged so that filaments 4| and 4I are not energized. Should it be desired, for example, to indicate a right-hand turn of the vehicle, handle I8 is moved one position counter-clockwise so that arm I4 engages contact 2| and arm I3 engages contact 3|. It should be noted that arm I4 may be so designed as not to engage contact 2|' in this position if it is desired that the left-hand laments 4I' not be illuminated steadily during flashing of the right-hand lamps. Filaments 42 are flashingly energized through 32, and filaments 4I are ashingly energized through operation of relay coil 33. A left-hand turn of the vehicle is indicated in a similar manner by moving handle I8 one position clockwise. When handle I8 is moved two positions in either direction, all of the filaments 4|, 4|', 42 and 42 are simultaneously energized to indicate an emergency stop condition.

If switch member I5 is reversed to the position of Fig. 1, for night driving, filaments 4I and 4|' will be steadily illuminated. When a turn is indicated, a much brighter flashing signal will be selectively provided through energization of both sets of lamp filaments on one side of the vehicle through the asher unit 32.

The representative ends I8 and I9 of member I5 can be appropriately marked so that the switch IIJ may be placed in proper position for either day-time or night-time driving. Alternatively, only one operating handle could be provided and the switch casing appropriately marked for positioning of this one handle for day-time and night-time driving.

While specic embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the. invention principles, it should be understood that the invention may be otherwise embodied without departing from such principles.

I claim:

l. A vehicle signalling system comprising, in combination, a source of power, two sets of clearance lamps, one set arranged on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle and each lamp having a first filament and a second filament, a switch having a first pair of contacts each connected to the rst laments of a different set of clearance lamps, a second pair of contacts, and a movable contact member connected to said source, a pair of flasher units each connected to a dilerent contact of said second pair, and a pair of relays each having a coil connected between a flasher unit and the second filaments of a different set of clearance lamps, each relay having a. pair of contacts and being operable, when the relay coil is energized, to connect the first ilaments of its associated lamps to its associated asher unit, said movable member having a rst position connecting both of said first pair of contacts to said source, and a second position connecting one contact of said rst pair and the opposite contact of said second pair to said source, whereby both sets of lamps may be steadily illuminated or one set may have both filaments intermittently illuminated while the other set is steadily illuminated, to signal a turning movement of the vehicle.

2. A vehicle signalling system comprising, in combination, a source of power, two sets of clearance lamps, one set arranged on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle and each lamp having a rst filament and a second filament,

6 a switch having a rst pair of contacts each connected to the rst filaments of a different set of clearance lamps, a second pair of contacts, a third pair of contacts each connected to a different contact of said second pair, and a movable contact member connected to said source, a pair of asher units each connected to a different Contact of said second pair, and a pair of relays each having a coil connected between a ilasher unit and the second filaments of a different set of clearance lamps, each relay having a pair of contacts and being operable, when the relay coil is energized, to connect the rst filaments of its associated lamps to its associated flasher unit, said movable member having a first position connecting both of said rst pair of contacts to said source, a second position connecting one contact of said rst pair and the opposite contact of said second pair to said source, and a third position connecting both contacts of said third pair to said source, whereby both sets oi lamps may be steadily illuminated, or one set may have both filaments intermittently illuminated while the other set is steadily illuminated, to signal a turning movement of the vehicle, or all the lamps may be concurrently flashed to signal an emergency stop.

JESSE R. HOLLINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,086,959 Rom July 13, 1937 2,090,332 ONeil Aug. 17, 1937 2,172,068 Murray Sept. 5, 1939 2,238,394 Murray, Jr Apr. 15, 1941 

